Containers enclosed by a lid in a vacuum tight seal are very well known. Typical vacuum sealed containers of this type are often containers for food products, including jelly jars, pickle jars, condiment jars, beverage bottles, baby food jars, and the like. In some vacuum sealed containers, the lid is held on by the vacuum seal alone. Releasing the vacuum seal allows removal of the lid. In other vacuum sealed containers, the lid is also threadedly attached to the container, so that removal of the lid involves both releasing the vacuum seal and unscrewing the lid. Often, the lids of vacuum sealed containers are formed with a slight dimple at the center of the lid. When the lid is firmly vacuum sealed to the container, the dimple is recessed and inflexible, indicating that the vacuum seal has not been compromised. The vacuum sealed container protects the quality of the contents and the sealed container will normally have an extended shelf life. After the vacuum seal has been released, if the lid is reattached to the container, the dimple will be domed and flexible to thumb pressure, indicating that the vacuum seal has been broken. A domed and flexible dimple also indicates that, even if the lid has not been removed from the container, the vacuum seal has been compromised. Once the vacuum seal has been released or compromised, the contents of the container have a more limited shelf life, generally indicated by an imprinted expiration date, and the container may then also require refrigeration.
To withstand the pressure of the vacuum seal, the lid of a vacuum sealed container is generally of metal and the container is generally of glass. In order to assure the quality and shelf life of the contents, the vacuum seal must be absolutely fluid tight. Accordingly, releasing the vacuum seal to open the jar or bottle may be difficult to accomplish by manual pressure or manual twisting alone. When the lid is retained by a vacuum seal alone, a common tool for releasing the vacuum seal is one which pries up the edge of the lid away from the container. This may cause permanent deformation of the lid, such that it may be difficult to replace the lid to maintain the remaining contents of the container. When the lid is also threadedly attached, such common procedures for loosening the lid may involve tapping the lid of the jar or bottle on a counter top or on a floor surface, or hitting a corner of the lid with a utensil. Such procedures may crack the container, introducing glass chips into the product, which may be difficult to remove or may render the product unusable.
Persons with physical limitations, such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, sprains, and the like and persons with weakness in their hands and arms, generally find it quite difficult to open a vacuum sealed container using such existing tools or procedures.
Accordingly, the present invention is a tool for easily releasing the vacuum seal of jars, bottles and similar containers which avoids prior difficulties and makes opening such containers quick, easy and safe, even for persons with physical limitations in their hands and arms.